Would You Like Lindsay Better If She'd Been Consistent?

Discussion in 'CSI: New York' started by Top41, May 27, 2007.

  1. Elwood21

    Elwood21 Pathologist

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    My vote was for funny, tough, odd, quirky Lindsay.

    I liked her introduction to the team, I liked her early interaction with everyone, from Stella down to Sid. I liked her interaction with Mac, from dumpster diving assignments, to being the only character on the team who could get away with smearing goo under his nose or putting a tie on him to prove a forensic point. There was a type of spirit, humour and personality that wasn't overlapping anyone else on the team. Lots of people have commented on that.

    I do think there could have been even more evolution for her as a new member than was depicted, as opposed to a rather seamless integration into a team that'd been together for awhile. That goes for Hawkes making the move from the morgue to the field too. Zuiker stated that opportunities were missed in the handling of both those transitions. At least it's been recognized.

    I did think the team needed another female character, especially a CSI, after Aiden's departure...(as opposed to a female detective like Angell, or medical examiner like Peyton, who are also btw part of the secondary character realm. Lindsay is supposed to be a main team member, but she no longer feels like one). But Stella is stand-up enough not to need a chick buddy to "balance" any gender dynamic within the team. A strong female presence depends entirely on the quality of the writing, not on the number of them. :cool: If Lindsey's writing improves, so much the better, but to have her just fill a team "slot" is a waste.

    The writing for Lindsay hasn't helped her much. She started as a woman making a new start in a new job in a new big city. She became a walking tragic memory of where she came from, in a scenario that came to an abrupt resolution. She became less a team member than a love interest (I guess the same could be said for Danny on that last point). Both subsequent roles/personalities were pretty one-dimentional in their presentation, and sapped her of any the spirit or individuality she initially displayed.

    As for D/L, it can't really be ignored, even tho this is supposed to be about Lindsay. I'll only say that IMO both characters were stronger BEFORE they got together. The relationship between them became a more important focus than either of the two participants in it. Both Danny and Lindsay really suffered in the writing provided for their characters as a result of this pairing.

    I was ambivalent but curious about her in early on, and then I grew to like her. But this season I found that I didn't miss her when she was away, and she didn't make much of an impact on her return.

    Of course, as always, just IMO. :p
     
  2. Top41

    Top41 Administrator Administrator Moderator Premium Member

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    Just from looking at the poll, it looks like many people were inclined to like the character when she was simply a funny, quirky character who was also ambitious and tough.

    So would you like her again the writers got back to that incarnation of the character?
     
  3. audrina

    audrina Police Officer

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    I just voted yes in the second poll. I have always liked Lindsay and Anna's portrayal, but I do agree that the writing has been very inconsistent this year. Part of it I think was because of her pregnancy, but it's just shoddy writing. Like someone said, they could have just had her leave to care for a sick relative or something.

    While I have not developed the same distaste of the character as others, I do wish she would return to the Lindsay they introduced. She was tough, anxious to prove herself (both as a woman and a Montana-ite) in this new arena, and a bit brittle as a result. I found it very believable, and loved many of the scenes Top has mentioned in the past: Tackling the guy, shooting the cross bow, etc. I think we need to move past her angst and integrate her more with the rest of the cast.

    As for Danny, I personally like the pairing, but I would like to see it as background. I do agree that this is primarily a crime show and should remain that way, although whiffs of romance are not a bad thing, IMO.
     
  4. PerfectAnomaly

    PerfectAnomaly Resident Smart Ass

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    That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. There'd have to be an improvement of epic proportions with the writing and a much better portrayal to make me see Lindsay as anything other than a completely useless character who is a waste of precious screen time that could be used for the other characters.
     
  5. lisagc

    lisagc Victim

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    Thanks! I'm glad I finally joined. I have no one to discuss my CSI's with in RL =) lol


    I voted no in the second poll.

    Once I don't like someone (and this also includes real life! lol) there's usually nothing that can be done for that person to be redeemed to me. And on the off chance that I do give someone a 2nd chance, it doesn't take much for me to regret that decision because the dumbest thing will annoy the crap out of me.

    So, I guess what I'm trying to say here is that nothing they do to Lindsay next year will make me like her. Especially because even if she does go back to the character I liked in early season 2, the D/L will still be around . . . which I'm just very 'bleh' about. (and with that being said, I kinda feel the same way about Danny after this season too :( ).
     
  6. Elwood21

    Elwood21 Pathologist

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    I haven't voted yet the second time around because I don't know yet.

    Ultimately depends on how it would be handled. They can't ignore what they put her (and us) through this season, and so to revert to a previous incarnation, so to speak, could be.... odd?

    If there were a way to really display a resolution to her back-story and depict that internal revitalization, well then maybe. They have to find a way to go forward with her, and not skip over previous storylines (as the writers are occassionally known to do) to just magically restore her earlier personality type.

    My recollection is murky, but didn't they try, in Daze of Wine/Roaches, to do a little of the the quirky/funny thing with her? I have an impression of that sort and that it didn't come off with the old spark.

    Can they find a way to give her a spine and personality thru a character evolution as opposed to "Heeeey, look who's back...?" Can they drop the angst and simpering guilt? Can they at least make her a CSI again? I'd like it if they made an attempt...
     
  7. kissmesweet

    kissmesweet Coroner

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    I voted for: Funny, Tough Chick. No way in hell am I going to vote for Angsty Woman... The writers and Anna didn't do that great of a job...

    I definitely don't like everything about her. Some things are undone and inconsistent.... Some things are awkward. :(
     
  8. MichelleK

    MichelleK Pathologist

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    I haven't voted in the second poll yet. It would be so hard to get back on board to liking her character. It would take something pretty major for me to think you know what she's a cool character and I just don't think she has the acting ability to pull it off. The character of Lindsay Monroe is a shame because written in the right way she'd had been fabulous.
     
  9. chaostheory08

    chaostheory08 CSI Level Three

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    Me too. I truly dislike (not hate, people) the character. And I'm sticking to my earlier post that you would still have a show without her. I mean, with her, she's barely noticable -- she has no significant impact to the show these 2 seasons so far. They actually have better episodes if she's not there or if she has minimal screentime.

    And.... what was season2-Lindsey? Even there, she started to decline after that first episode she was in, after that seemingly "accidental" bumping onto Danny in the lab. Psh, hey Aiden and Danny even hit each other and nothing happened. Aiden didn't become a badly written character after she hit Danny up the side of the head.

    I guess, up to now, I'm still figuring out why, what for, how the writers write her.
     
  10. Radical618

    Radical618 Coroner

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    I voted for everything, cause I like the character overall, but I must say, Lindsay as a funny tough chick is a hell of a lot better than angsty Lindsay.
     
  11. dl_shipper34

    dl_shipper34 CSI Level One

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    I love Lindsay. I think she is a great character and brings lightness to the show. While I still liked her this past season, it bothered me when she was angsty and sad, because I don't see that as being her. In season two she was quirky and always seemed happy, and that side of her I liked. I do not believe she's a character who think it's all about her. I view her as someone who really cares for her co-workers.

    With all due respect Top, I disagree with you on this point. In "All Access", she was distressed because Stella had been seriously wounded and they've become close friends. I think she was just upset because of what was going on with Stella. IMHO. Whatever floats your boat :)
     
  12. d2400

    d2400 Hit and Run

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    I might have been inclined to enjoy the character a bit more....if they, maybe, had found someone else to play her. Now, no matter what mode she is in, she just annoys me......that may be closed minded of me but I just can't get into her character now. I just like it better when she is NOT there.
     
  13. Gaelen

    Gaelen Coroner

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    My turn. :)

    First of all, although I am a D/L shipper, I have to agree that there are times when they definately didn't do as good a job as they could have done. Lindsay has been around the world and back - but compared to being the same thing all season? That would have been boring. No one character can stick to one characteristic all the time.

    The fact that she has been a funny tough chick, and all of the above adds to her character. I'm definately not saying she's perfect. There has been inconsistensies and awkwardness, but hey - no one's perfect.

    I gotta agree with dl_shipper34. In All Access, she was worried about Stella.

    My 2 cents worth: Lindsay rocks.

    But that's just my opinion. You're all entitled to your own.
     
  14. Kimmychu

    Kimmychu Coroner

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    It is true that a character shouldn't stick to just one characteristic. None on the show do. However, it is something else to stick to just one personality. Each of them should have a core personality that define them throughout their life. Everyone has a core personality, even and particularly, in real life. The only people who have more than one, are suffering from MPD, or as it's more commonly known these days, DID. :p

    I think that's one of the main gripes people have about Lindsay's character; that she changes from one personality to another (and I do think this is mainly because of shoddy writing and the bad idea of molding a character to push a story forward rather than molding a story to push a character forward). Just take a look at the comments in this thread alone. Even Lindsay fans are saying that they would rather have the 'sparky, energetic Lindsay'.

    That, right there, is one personality. Personally, TPTB should have stuck with that single one from the start, rather than change Lindsay's set of characteristics here and there for the sake of garnering interest in the show and her as the new addition to the cast. If she had been allowed to maintain that 'sparky, energetic' personality from the beginning, who knows? More people might like her today.

    Top41's poll does bring up the big question of: After the indecisive fiasco of the writers with Lindsay's character for two whole seasons, which personality are we supposed to accept Lindsay has? The happy, bubbly woman? The PTSD-riddled woman who's bratty and manipulates others in dealing with her problems? That woman whose sole purpose is to be Danny's love interest on the show? I hate to say it, but the way the writers have been dealing with her character, it's ended up becoming No. 3, with No. 1 and No. 2 being nothing more than cliched plot devices to get viewers' attention on her.

    It's a shame, really. Lindsay would have been much more likable character had the writers stuck with Personality No. 1 all the time. They should have learned something from the CSI:Miami writers who introduced and integrated Ryan Wolfe! Given space to develop independantly and have an independant personality, along with time for viewers to grow on the character before introducing all kinds of angst or relationship stuff.

    Well, as for my answer to Top41's poll ... it's going to take an incredible amount of excellent writing and cleaning up of Lindsay's character for me to take her seriously again. (That final scene in the warehouse really did the job of making me dislike her personality, but that's another discussion elsewhere.) At this point, should the writers return to her former happy, bubbly self, they'll have to either ignore most, if not all, the development they've done for her for the past two seasons or ... I can't think of any other way they can do it. Yeah. My prediction is that the writers are going to stick with angsty Lindsay for season four, if Anthony Zuiker's comments and all the foreshadowing in the season three finale are anything to go by. Yikes.

    P.S. Around the world and back? And here I thought the only places she's ever been is Montana and New York. :p
     
  15. paigeS

    paigeS Dead on Arrival

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    First off let me say everyone is entitled to their own opinion, it would be a strange old world if we all liked the same thing. And let me state everything I write here is just my opinion, its how I see things doesn't mean I am right or wrong.

    A WHY ME CHARACTER!

    IMO Danny is the biggest WHY ME character on the show. From his " Why do I feel no one's got my back on this" in ON THE JOB to his "Why should I go, whats it got to do with me" remark to Hawkes in regards to having to attend some sort of work function with Cindy. And most recently his " Why do we do what we do, for what" comment in Comes around. If you are going to find this fault with one character, point should me made that all of the characters have made it about,themselves at one time or another. But oh yeah I forgot, its Danny, Danny never does anything wrong, its always someone else's fault as to why he acts the way he does.

    And in regards to her behaviour in LRC,OH and SN, IMO they were classic signs of PSTD. From her standing Danny up, to her snapping at Stella, to the hallucinations, to the inconsistant behaviour. IMO that behaviour is consistant of someone suffering from PTSD.

    To to her part in SD, seeing as though TPTB wanted to have their relationship revealed in the finale, what other role could she have played. To have her taken hostage with Danny would have been D/L overkill, and to have her at the Lab with Hawkes, Stella and Mac IMO have made her look out of character, because I for one, cant see Lindsay going all Rambo with an AK-47.

    I once read a post here, claiming that Lindsay was the most disliked character in the CSI franchise. IMO that claim was ridiculous. What I want to know is how did this person come to that conclusion. And where is the proof to back that up?

    IMO its fine not to like a character, but to assume most people share your opinion is just absurd.

    In regards to AB's acting, that comes down to personal preference, what you need to remember is not everyone see's things the same way, for every person that doesn't like her acting style there is one that does. I see the same type of comments made in regards to Emily Proctor and Jorja Fox, doesn't mean they cant act.


    And to blame her character for the changes in Danny, again IMO its just ridiculous. Because by doing that you disregard everything that has happened to Danny since season 1. Him shooting the under cover cop in ON THE JOB, Mac losing respect for him at the end of season 1, Aidens firing in Grand Murder at Central Station and subsecquent death in Hero's, him being a murder suspect and Louie getting beaten up and put into a Coma trying to clear him in RSRD, and Flack getting blown up in Charge of this Post, all these things could play a part into why he has changed and not one of them involve Lindsay.

    And in regards to the D/L storyline,(which really IMO this is what this keeps coming back to) I have said it once and I will say it again. To keep coming back to CG doesn't like the storyline is just an assumption. I have never seen him state anything either way. And to make that assumption off one comment he made about Jane Parsons over 12 months ago is ridiculous. We need to remember that there was a intimate scene planned for the finale last season. Maybe at the time CG didn't think it was a great idea, because there had been no build up to it, nothing to show us Danny had any sort of emotional connection to Lindsay. And if that was the case I have to agree with him, it would have seemed rushed, and who knows what was planned for the storyline after that, we will never know. Again if you are going to make claims like this, show people the proof to back them up. And reading silly comments like "Well at least CG wouldn't have had to worry about getting excited doing the bed scenes in SD", that to me is cruel and uncalled for. I think some of you would like to believe that CG absolutely loathes AB, to the point that he spits in her coffee, and keys her car in the parking lot. If you don't want people thinking jealousy is involved stop posting ludicrous comment like that one and the one about AB's weight in Daze of Wine and Roaches, after just giving birth. What in the heck has her weight got to do with anything. IMO she looked pretty damn fine for some one who had just given birth 3 weeks prior.


    Reading stuff like this makes me wonder how much of this dislike has to do with Danny/Carmine. Because something interesting I observed a while ago, was in regards to the"Why Lindsay must go thread". That thread was dormant for a good few months, that was until the spoilers for SOOH came out and there was mention of Danny going to Montana. Coincidence maybe,I am not so sure, because now here we are with a new thread about liking Lindsay more if she was more consistant, not two weeks after the big reveal on the finale.

    If the point of this thread was to make the TPTB take notice,IMO it will fall on deaf ears. From my years working in this buisness, their attitude seems to be one of Shutup, stop over analyzing and enjoy.
     

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